Pinocchio Rauner has astoundingly deceitful campaign ads about campaign rival Jeanne Ives running on Fox News and appearing like stinkbugs and cockroaches in the mailboxes of the good people of Illinois.

Let’s take a quick look at the putrescent propaganda that I found stinking up my mailbox. Here are Rauner’s lies in yellow followed by the truth.

Rauner lie #1: Ives is a “career politician.”

Truth: The 53-year-old Ives began her career in the Illinois State House in January 2013, so she just completed her 5th year in Springfield. Rauner just completed 3 years in Springfield. If Illinoisans are foolish enough to re-elect Pinocchio, will he be a “career politician” in a mere two years?

Truth: While 15 Republicans voted for Mighty Madigan’s 32% tax increase, Ives was not one of them. She voted “No.” Note that weaselly Rauner did not say Ives voted for the tax increase. His ad says she “supports” Madigan’s tax increase. So, since she voted against the tax increase, on what basis can Rauner claim she “supports” Madigan’s increase?

In a teeny tiny footnote on his despicable campaign mailer, Rauner cites the January 23, 2018 issue of Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine as the source for his claim that Ives supports the tax increase she voted against. So, let’s take a little look-see at what Crain’s actually reported:

Ives said she’d start by working to repeal the income tax hike that was approved over Rauner’s veto. But “I wouldn’t do that immediately,” she said. “I suspect that, within two years, we could set that out as a goal.”

Some of the reason for the delay is that the money is needed [to] pay off short-term state IOUs which ballooned to more than $12 billion while the budget stalemate raged, she said. Another reason: Realistically, it will take that long to get something through a General Assembly that, unless something changes in November, will be dominated by Democrats, she said.

Rauner was counting on Republicans not following up on his teeny tiny footnote.

Rauner lie #3: “Ives opposed freezing property taxes”:

Truth: A commentary appearing on NPR of Illinois explains why the bogus legislation Ives opposed deserved opposition (BTW, Ives was joined by 34 other Republicans in opposing this bad bill):

[N]one of the freeze legislation introduced over the last couple of years would guarantee that taxes never increased on a particular piece of property. Rather, like the existing tax caps law, they all would cap the total amount of money a government body could ask from all property owners within its borders. Individual tax bills might increase, for example, if the value of homes in a particular neighborhood increased at a greater rate than homes in some less trendy part of town. Changes in the valuation of the properties making up the government’s tax base virtually assures that the burden will be shared differently from year to year, even if the total doesn’t grow.

Got that? Though this bill would have capped the total amount of money collected by a community, any particular homeowner could see his or her property taxes increase from year to year. The total amount of property tax dollars would have been frozen, but tax burdens on individual homeowners would fluctuate.

Furthermore, Prairie State Wire explained the other ways the bill deserved a big fat “no” vote:

[T]he legislation would have frozen taxes for only two years and for only Cook County and the collar counties. Residents in downstate counties would have had to vote for a freeze in a referendum. The provision, moreover, contains plenty of ways local governments can wiggle out of a freeze, some that will cost taxpayers even more in the long run.

So, Ives did not oppose freezing property taxes. In fact, she supports a “hard cap as a percentage of home value.”

The House passed the bill 108-1-0 April 6. That’s likely because many politicians didn’t want to go on the record as having voted against property tax “reform” for seniors and veterans, fearing any “no” vote would be used against them in next year’s election campaign.[as Pinocchio Rauner is doing against Ives now]

But a “no” vote is absolutely the right decision on this bill.

HB 156 does nothing to stop the overly burdensome growth in Illinois property tax bills, even for seniors and veterans. It simply shifts more of the property tax burden on property owners who do not receive an exemption. (emphasis added)

In an article on Illinois News Network, Carol Portman, president of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois explained that “the measure sounds nice, but it will actually shift the burden to other property taxpayers.”

Democrats sponsored this bill for show. It was an attempt to deceive voters, and Ives was the only Republican to stand on principle, refusing to play along with the Democrats’ repellent manipulation of voters.

Rauner’s half-truth reveals the whole truth that Ives is the best person to be the next governor of Illinois. Illinois desperately needs a governor who does not play political games—a governor whom the public can trust to say what she means and mean what she says. We need the antithesis of Pinocchio Rauner.

Rauner lie #5: “Ives has received thousands of dollars in contributions from the same union bosses who back Mike Madigan”:

Truth: I spent a day trying to fact-check this claim. I was able to confirm that between 2012-2017 Ives received a whopping $6,900 from whom I guess Rauner is calling a “union boss,” that is, the Chicagoland Operators Joint Labor-Management (COJLM) PAC.

This PAC has also donated $8,000 to State Representative Peter Breen and $15,000 to U.S. Representative Darin LaHood—both of whom are stalwart conservative Republicans.

COJLM PAC also made campaign donations to lawmakers on the less stalwart side of the Republican Party—which is to say, Rauner’s side—including $13,500 to State Representative Chris Nybo and $6,600 to House Leader Jim Durkin.

Oh, and let’s not forget the $205,000 that the House Republican Leadership Committee has received and the $76,000 that the House Republican Organization has received from—to quote Rauner— “the same union bosses who back Mike Madigan.”

Rauner likely doesn’t want Illinoisans to know that unions often make token donations to Republican candidates or organizations to pacify Republican union members who chafe at union donations going only to liberals, liberal organizations, and liberal causes.

Rauner likely doesn’t want Republicans to dig around to find out if there is any evidence that Ives has been bought by the meager private-sector union donations she received.

No, Rauner just seeks to smear Ives with half-truths and whole lies.

No surprise that a man who would straight-up lie to an archbishop would lie to his constituents.

Rauner is a moral cipher who takes Republicans for chumps. Rauner—named the “Worst Republican Governor in America” by National Review—needs to be sent packing pronto.

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